Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The Skandapurana, one of the eighteen Mahâpurânas of Hindu tradition, functions both as a mythological corpus and as a sophisticated sacred geography that codifies protection for forest ecosystems. Through its elaboration of Tirthavanani - pilgrimage groves consecrated to deities, the text inscribes a theology of nature conservation that bridges cosmological order (dharma) with ecological integrity. Thus, the paper is an attempt to examine how the Skandapurana’s spatial sanctification of forests correlates with contemporary biodiversity hotspots, particularly the Western Ghats and Himalayan regions. The ritual frameworks established mechanisms for long-term species preservation that persist in surviving sacred groves such as the devara kâdu of Karnataka. It is evident that the khandas and their geographic specificity demonstrates that sacred geography was not merely symbolic, but functioned as an operative conservation technology embedded in community practice, ritual obligation and theological principle.
Authors: Prasanth P., Sreeja Krishnan
Language: English
Subfield: Religious studies
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Life on land
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W7213966044